The Côte d’Or produces nearly all of Burgundy’s most famous wines. It’s split into the Côte de Nuits (famous for its reds), and the Côte de Beaune (famous for its whites); if you’ve got an expensive, ageworthy Burgundy, it’s almost certainly from the Côte d’Or.
Winemaking can be an unglamourous business. Behind the romance of the craft lies months of labor-intensive farming: flat tractor tires, vine maladies, hand pruning, bookkeeping, equipment cleaning, etc. Even for those in the trade, it can be easy to forget the work that goes into every bottle of wine. Perhaps no wine more acutely displays […]
Michel Gros appears on most lists of Burgundy’s finest winemakers. His style is smooth and elegant, with warm, enticing notes of toast, red berries, and a silky texture. Gros’s village level and premier cru wines can be truly extraordinary, but they require (and reward) investment and patience.
The first inquiries about the 2015 Michel Gros lineup started coming in more than a year ago. Our best-known producer; the vintage of a generation; “just want to make sure I don’t miss it.” Back in April, our barrel tastings confirmed 2015’s considerable hype — magnificent wines by a legendary producer from what may be the best vintage in decades.
Michel Gros is as much a part of Vosne-Romanée as its pointed steeple, the ancient vineyards, and the narrow crooked streets. He is a lifelong resident of the town, as were his father and grandfather before him -- his mother was even mayor. The Gros family name has been synonymous with Vosne-Romanee for centuries.
The first inquiries about the 2015 Michel Gros lineup started coming in more than a year ago. Our best-known producer; the vintage of a generation; “just want to make sure I don’t miss it.” Back in April, our barrel tastings confirmed 2015’s considerable hype -- an excellent vintage, from top to bottom.
The most important thing to know about a wine from Burgundy is the location of the vines, but knowing the winemaker is a close second. We’ve had disappointing bottles from famous Grand Crus and brilliant wines from lesser terroirs. Often a highly skilled producer can create unusually good wine from humble origins.
Morey-St-Denis exemplifies the small scale of Burgundian winemaking. Wedged between two more famous neighbors, this village of 680 people has a vineyard surface of under 4 tenths of a square mile. It’s dark, delicious, classic red Burgundy — there just isn’t much of it to go around.
No town in France is more celebrated for its wines than Vosne-Romanée. Home to some of the world’s finest and most sought-after bottles, Vosne is undoubtedly the most famous Pinot Noir village on earth. Michel Gros is a lifelong resident. His family has made wine there for centuries, and his mother was once the mayor.
Most people consider the white wines of Burgundy to be among the world’s finest wines of any color. Nowhere else does Chardonnay achieve the same balance between fruit, minerality, acidity, richness, and elegance. With production limited and ever increasing demand, the prices of white Burgundy have risen almost as quickly as those of red.
If Vosne-Romanée is the paragon of Burgundian sophistication, then neighbor Nuits-St-Georges has the humbler charm of a country gentleman. Spread across five miles of varied terroir, the wines of Nuits-St-Georges range from spiced and elegant to meaty and rich. Wines from plots near the Vosne border can borrow a bit of spice and silk from their neighbor.
In Burgundy as in real estate, it’s said that location is everything. But while it may be the most important thing to know about a wine, it’s not the only thing: sometimes the winemaker can be just as important. We’ve had disappointing wines from some of the finest Grand Cru vineyards in the world.
Michel Gros is perhaps the most recognizable producer in our portfolio. His wines are all elegant and precise, often showing smoky or toasty qualities, and always silky and beautiful. A few years ago Clive Coates MW listed Michel Gros in the top 17 domaines in all of Burgundy — a list that included Romanée-Conti, Leroy, and Comtes Lafon — and…
Here in the US, we’re wary of monopolies. But in Burgundy, at least in the winemaking world, they’re championed. A mônopole is the unusual circumstance where one vigneron owns an entire vineyard. After centuries of splitting holdings among inheriting sons, a single-owner vineyard is rare.
Michel Gros is as much a part of Vosne-Romanée as the pointed steeple, the ancient vineyards, and the narrow crooked streets. He is a lifelong resident of the town, as were his father and grandfather before him -- his mother was even mayor. The Gros family name has been synonymous with Vosne-Romanee for centuries.